Hello Champlain Valley Parents, Caregivers, and Community Members,

First of all, I am very excited about the upcoming week. Between the end of the school year for the students, graduations for the eighth graders and high school seniors, and transitions from elementary to middle school and middle to high school, there is a lot of excitement brewing. Not to mention that after those wonderful events take place, there is a very long summer break for the students. With every school year beginning for students on the last Wednesday of August, we are poised to have one of our longest possible summer breaks.

Due to some of those exciting events, we need to reschedule our bi-monthly DEI Town Hall. Instead of the June 8th date, we are rescheduling it for Monday, June 13, at 6:30 pm. Our main topic will be to introduce our new DEI Director, Dr. Asma Abunaib. We hope to have a second presentation and are attempting to finalize the plans soon.

Congratulations to CVU for an absolutely amazing Community for Unity day held this past Wednesday. Completely student and teacher-led, students held a kick off for the day during morning advisory that included the unveiling of the national recognition banner for CVU’s unified sports team and a wonderful keynote speech by Jerry Greenfield. The goals for the event were to create unity, celebrate the end of the school year, and create awareness and action about violence in our society. The organizers did this by creating a conference-like sessions in the afternoon for students to attend and engage.

The Community for Unity day coincided with the first day of Pride Month, June 1. On Saturday, June 4 from 10 am-1 pm at CVU, we will have a district-wide celebration at the 2nd Annual CVSD Pride Rally. All are welcome to attend. There is more information included below in the newsletter.

As we enter into the final week, I’m sure your children’s excitement for the school year’s end and for the full start of summer is very close to brimming over. They have just about one more week to complete this year’s studies and to celebrate their school year with their classmates and teachers. I hope that you and your families have a wonder-filled first weekend of June and a great final week of school.

Rene

Our school-based GSAs would like to announce and extend an open invitation to CVSD’s 2nd Annual Pride Rally! The event is happening, rain or shine on Saturday, June 4, from 10:00-1:00 at CVU! The Pride Rally is an opportunity for our larger community to come together and celebrate our diversity, as well as support our LGBTQ+ community members in feeling seen, celebrated, and protected. Come ready to eat, jam out, hear from queer legislators, students, and educators, and engage in other fun and supportive activities. More specifics to come! Students, staff, families, and community members are welcome to come and celebrate alongside us--we hope to see you there!

June 19th is a Federal Holiday in the USA commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African-Americans. There are different celebrations in Vermont. You can find more information in this article.

Each year, the Vermont Agency of Education surveys families of children with disabilities to gather information and feedback about their experience navigating the special education process. This survey helps us understand how you feel about your school’s efforts to create meaningful partnerships with you, and gives us important feedback about how we can best meet your child’s special needs. CVSD takes the information we gather seriously, and uses what we learn to make changes to our processes and procedures.

The survey comes directly from the Agency of Education (with instructions) and will be mailed to all families of students with disabilities by June 10, 2022. If you don't receive a survey, or if you need assistance filling out the survey, please contact your child's case manager or administrator.

An Allen Brook School first-grader's design for the Doodle for Google student contest was selected as the winner for Vermont. Kyle Adams' design was one of 54 selected nationwide.

To help their favorites succeed, everyone across the USA can vote for their favorite Doodle from the 54 State and Territory Winners. Voting will be open soon on this site: https://doodles.google.com/d4g/. The public vote will determine the Five National Finalists (one in each grade group). Google will announce these five National Finalists in June, one of which will have their Doodle featured on the Google homepage for a day.

Please vote for Kyle's design! Read more about the event held at Allen Brook when he was surprised with this honor on our blog. We'll alert everyone when the voting is open!

As you are aware, CVSD has partnered with Mass Insight to conduct a district equity audit. We seek and value your input as we continue to create a more equitable and inclusive environment for all students in our district. You may receive a phone call between June 6, 2022 - June 17, 2022, as part of your chance to participate in our district-wide equity audit. We hope you answer the call! The calls will take place in the evening between the hours of 5:00pm and 7:00pm. The call will last no longer than15-minutes (if you have a lot to share) but averages approximately 7-minutes. The information you provide, and your family contact and identifying information will be confidential and anonymous. Thank you for the opportunity to provide the district with valuable information, feedback, and perspective.

The following was shared by VT’s Secretary of Education, Dan French.

“As of April 4, 2022, and as public health conditions in Vermont relative to COVID-19 continue to improve, the Staff Assurance Testing and Test at Home programs will be discontinued in Vermont schools. With the conclusion of these testing programs, staff and student households may be reminded that they can make an appointment at a State of Vermont testing site to obtain up to eight rapid antigen tests or one LAMP test per appointment for their use at home.

Per the Vermont Department of Health, school nurses should continue to conduct diagnostic testing in school using LAMP or antigen tests. Schools can also make take-home antigen tests available to students, staff and their households on an as-needed basis or at the clinical discretion of the school nurse.”

CVSD has a supply of antigen tests in our schools. Please reach out to your school’s nurse to request them.

Wondering what to do if your child is ill? This document may answer some of your questions.

• The last day of school for students in grades K-7 is June 10, which is a half-day for students.

CCS is releasing at 12:00pm

HCS is releasing at 11:45am

ABS releases at 11:35am and WCS at 11:55am

SCS will release at 11:30am

• 8th grade graduations will take place on June 9th! Your schools will share more specific information as it gets closer.
• Grades 9-12 have end-of-year assessments the week beginning June 6. Friday, June 10, is a Make-Up Exam day from 8:45-10:30.
• CVU seniors graduate on June 10 at 2:00pm!

CVSD recently rolled out a new feature on our website. This is a communication tool for faculty/staff, students, families, and community members.

Let’s Talk! makes it easy for you to engage with school and district leaders on the topics that matter most. Unlike an email, your inquiry is automatically routed to the person or team best suited to respond, ensuring you receive timely and accurate responses every time.

We invite folks from all of our communities to share kudos for a teacher, staff member, or administrator or anything or anyone having to do with our schools. We have had many thoughtful submissions so far. These can be shared at any time and will be forwarded to the appropriate recipient.

Look for CVSD Kudos or any other topic on the Let's Talk tab or page on our district's website.

The new Amtrak service will travel through Charlotte and Shelburne on its way to Burlington. Service officially begins in July, however, they have started qualifying and testing runs already.

It is critical that we all work together to educate everyone about track safety, especially students and young drivers. Stay Off the Tracks provides more information about the increased need for safety.

Look for this image on our district and school websites to get to our COVID page.

Resources to keep accessible:

• First Call - 488-7777: phone support, crisis intervention, assessment and referrals
• In Crisis: 1-800-SUICIDE (1-800-784-2433) (National Hopeline Network: USA)
• National Suicide Prevention Life line- 1-800-273-TALK (8255), call or chat online
• Crisis Text Line - text HOME to 741741 (24 hours a day, seven days a week)
• Outright Vermont - support for LGBTQ+ community
• UVM Breathe In Breath Out - How to deal with stress due to COVID-19
• Vermont 211 -Vermont database of resources and services
• Vermont Support Line (833) 888-2557) - peer support warmline open 247 - 365 for call or text
• COVID Counselors @ VT-211
• Teen Crisis Text Line - Crisis Text Line provides free emotional support and information to teens in any type of crisis, including feeling suicidal. You can text with a trained specialist 24 hours a day. Text “HOME” to 741741.
• Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide - Website where you can find information to help yourself or a friend who may be having thoughts of suicide.
• Trevor Lifeline - 1-866- 488-7386 - provides suicide prevention and crisis intervention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) young people. It offers free, 24/7, confidential counseling. TrevorText—text START to 678-678; TrevorChat—instant messaging at TheTrevorProject.org/help. It also runs TrevorSpace, an affirming social networking site for LGBTQ youth at TrevorSpace.

Serving the communities of Charlotte, Hinesburg, Shelburne, St. George, and Williston.

Reach out using any of the methods below or visit our Let's Talk page.

Email: cvsdinformation@cvsdvt.org
Website: https://www.cvsdvt.org/
Location: 5420 Shelburne Road, Shelburne, VT, USA
Phone: (802) 383-1234
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChamplainValleySchoolDistrict
Twitter: @cvsdvt